Table 2. Geometric means (pmol l−1) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of serum oestrogens and oestrogen metabolites by total alcohol consumption category among postmenopausal women not using menopausal hormone therapy in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Observational Study (OS).
| Alcoholic drinks per week | Non-drinker | Current drinker | <1 | 1 to <3 | 3 to <7 | 7+ | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median | 0 | 2.6 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 4 | 11.5 | |||
| N | 398 | 565 | 198 | 138 | 101 | 148 | |||
| Weighted Na | 11 881 | 19 121 | 6560 | 4195 | 3322 | 5044 | |||
| Geometric means (95% CI)b |
P-diffc | Geometric means (95% CI)b |
%Δd | p-trende | |||||
| Oestrone | 313.8 (266.1, 370.0) | 332.6 (278.3, 397.6) | 0.50 | 314.3 (255.2, 387.1) | 290.7 (223.2, 378.6) | 403.3 (301.2, 540.0) | 340.4 (268.7, 431.3) | 8% | 0.66 |
| Conjugated | 245.2 (204.4, 294.1) | 266.8 (218.9, 325.3) | 0.37 | 249.2 (197.6, 314.3) | 229.8 (171.1, 308.6) | 320.5 (231.6, 443.7) | 279.3 (216.0, 361.1) | 12% | 0.50 |
| Unconjugated | 60.6 (53.7, 68.5) | 58.9 (51.8, 66.9) | 0.66 | 58.9 (50.5, 68.6) | 52.9 (44.3, 63.1) | 73.9 (60.0, 90.9) | 55.5 (46.6, 66.3) | −6% | 0.51 |
| Oestradiol | 60.0 (50.3, 71.6) | 57.7 (47.6, 70.0) | 0.67 | 53.8 (43.1, 67.3) | 53.6 (42.4, 67.9) | 72.0 (52.2, 99.3) | 57.3 (44.6, 73.7) | 6% | 0.82 |
| Conjugated | 38.6 (32.0, 46.7) | 39.7 (32.1, 49.1) | 0.77 | 36.5 (28.4, 46.9) | 39.5 (30.5, 51.1) | 47.6 (33.9, 66.8) | 39.3 (29.7, 52.2) | 8% | 0.88 |
| Unconjugated | 15.9 (13.1, 19.3) | 13.5 (11.2, 16.1) | 0.09 | 13.2 (10.6, 16.4) | 10.7 (8.4, 13.7) | 17.6 (12.8, 24.3) | 13.4 (10.8, 16.7) | 2% | 0.67 |
| 2-Hydroxyoestrone | 68.7 (59.4, 79.5) | 68.1 (58.2, 79.8) | 0.91 | 65.8 (54.6, 79.2) | 59 (47.3, 73.7) | 80.4 (61.2, 105.6) | 69.6 (57.7, 84.1) | 6% | 0.52 |
| 2-Hydroxyoestradiol | 16.9 (14.6, 19.5) | 16.9 (14.6, 19.7) | 0.97 | 16.5 (13.8, 19.9) | 14.6 (11.7, 18.1) | 19.7 (15.2, 25.5) | 17.3 (14.4, 20.9) | 5% | 0.52 |
| 2-Methoxyoestrone | 43.5 (38.6, 48.9) | 43.3 (38.2, 49.1) | 0.95 | 42.1 (35.9, 49.4) | 38.2 (31.9, 45.8) | 49.0 (39.2, 61.3) | 44.4 (37.6, 52.6) | 6% | 0.38 |
| Conjugated | 31.9 (28.0, 36.3) | 31.9 (27.9, 36.5) | 0.98 | 30.8 (25.8, 36.8) | 27.8 (22.9, 33.7) | 35.0 (27.6, 44.5) | 33.7 (28.2, 40.2) | 9% | 0.23 |
| Unconjugated | 10.3 (9.0, 11.9) | 10.0 (8.6, 11.6) | 0.65 | 9.9 (8.2, 12.1) | 9.4 (7.5, 11.7) | 12.1 (9.3, 15.7) | 9.5 (7.7, 11.6) | −5% | 0.63 |
| 2-Methoxyoestradiol | 13.9 (12.0, 16.2) | 14.1 (11.9, 16.8) | 0.81 | 13.8 (11.5, 16.6) | 12.1 (9.7, 15.2) | 17 (12.7, 22.8) | 14.3 (11.5, 17.7) | 4% | 0.56 |
| Conjugated | 11.2 (9.5, 13.3) | 11.5 (9.5, 13.8) | 0.75 | 11.1 (9.1, 13.6) | 9.3 (7.2, 12.2) | 14.0 (10.3, 19.2) | 11.9 (9.5, 14.9) | 7% | 0.32 |
| Unconjugated | 2.2 (1.9, 2.5) | 2.1 (1.8, 2.4) | 0.56 | 2.1 (1.7, 2.5) | 2.0 (1.7, 2.5) | 2.3 (1.8, 3.0) | 2.0 (1.7, 2.4) | −2% | 0.48 |
| 3-Methyl ether-hydroxyoestrone | 7.7 (6.8, 8.7) | 7.8 (6.8, 9) | 0.76 | 7.7 (6.5, 9.0) | 7.0 (5.8, 8.4) | 8.2 (6.4, 10.4) | 8.2 (6.9, 9.8) | 7% | 0.51 |
| 4-Hydroxyoestrone | 8.4 (7.3, 9.7) | 8.5 (7.3, 10.0) | 0.85 | 8.3 (6.9, 10.0) | 7.4 (5.9, 9.2) | 9.9 (7.5, 13.1) | 8.6 (7.1, 10.4) | 4% | 0.61 |
| 4-Methoxyoestrone | 4.6 (4.1, 5.2) | 4.5 (3.9, 5.1) | 0.71 | 4.6 (3.9, 5.4) | 3.9 (3.2, 4.6) | 4.9 (3.8, 6.2) | 4.6 (3.9, 5.4) | −1% | 0.57 |
| 4-Methoxyoestradiol | 2.0 (1.7, 2.3) | 2.0 (1.7, 2.4) | 0.65 | 2.0 (1.7, 2.5) | 1.8 (1.5, 2.3) | 2.4 (1.8, 3.2) | 2.0 (1.6, 2.4) | −2% | 0.95 |
| 16-Alphahydroxyoestrone | 34.3 (29.5, 40.0) | 34.0 (28.7, 40.2) | 0.90 | 32.6 (26.8, 39.6) | 29.5 (23.3, 37.4) | 40.2 (29.7, 54.4) | 34.9 (28.7, 42.5) | 7% | 0.51 |
| Oestriol | 147.1 (127.1, 170.2) | 144.5 (122.5, 170.5) | 0.82 | 142.0 (116.6, 172.9) | 126.7 (99.4, 161.6) | 171.0 (127.2, 229.9) | 144.3 (118.5, 175.7) | 2% | 0.88 |
| Conjugated | 115.6 (97.8, 136.7) | 114.3 (95, 137.6) | 0.90 | 111.9 (89.5, 139.8) | 101.4 (77.6, 132.6) | 137.3 (99.8, 188.9) | 113.1 (90.4, 141.5) | 1% | 0.99 |
| Unconjugated | 27.8 (24.7, 31.3) | 26.0 (22.8, 29.8) | 0.38 | 25.7 (21.8, 30.3) | 21.8 (17.6, 27) | 29.5 (22.7, 38.4) | 27.1 (23, 31.8) | 5% | 0.25 |
| 16-Ketooestradiol | 36.9 (31.6, 43.1) | 37.3 (31.5, 44.3) | 0.88 | 36.3 (29.7, 44.5) | 32.2 (25.1, 41.3) | 43.0 (31.7, 58.5) | 38.4 (31.3, 47.1) | 6% | 0.64 |
| 16-Epioestriol | 15.8 (13.7, 18.1) | 15.5 (13.3, 18.1) | 0.80 | 14.2 (11.9, 17.1) | 13.8 (11.1, 17.1) | 18.5 (14.3, 24.1) | 16.2 (13.5, 19.5) | 14% | 0.26 |
| 17-Epioestriol | 12.4 (10.9, 14.2) | 12.7 (11, 14.6) | 0.76 | 11.9 (10.0, 14.2) | 11.1 (9.1, 13.6) | 14.6 (11.6, 18.4) | 13.4 (11.1, 16.1) | 12% | 0.28 |
Weighted N: frequency counts weighted to whole WHI-OS cohort.
Adjusted for age at blood draw (<60, 60–<70, ⩾70 years), year of blood draw (1993–1996, 1997–1998), race (white, non-white), smoking status (never smoked, past smoker, current smoker), BMI (kg m−2), years since menopause (<10 years, 10–<20 years, ⩾20 years), duration of oral contraceptive use (0, <5, ⩾5 years), caffeine intake (quartiles), sedentary/sitting time (<5, 5–<10, ⩾10 h per day), and metabolic equivalent (MET) hours of physical activity per week (none, >0–<7.5, 7.5–15 (National recommendations), ⩾15).
P-diff refers to the P-value comparing the geometric mean concentration of parent oestrogens and oestrogen metabolites for current compared with non-alcohol drinkers. Calculated using the Wald test.
%Δ is the percentage difference in oestrogen concentrations comparing 7+ and <1 standard alcoholic drink/week.
P-trend is the P-value for trend in association between alcohol consumption and parent oestrogens and oestrogen metabolite concentration among current drinkers. Calculated using Wald test for a continuous drinking variable based on the median number of standard servings of alcohol consumed per week according to the categories presented in the table.